That Night
by mimibeebee
Summary: She was ready to end it.  She was done.  No more feeling insignificant. Amanda had done a pretty good job of that in the past, what with flaunting her perfect skin, her perfect body, her perfect Finn. There was so much she wanted to do...But no longer.


**I'm usually more of a fluffy-romance writer, but after reading the fanfic **_**Notice**__**Me**_** and "Chapter 6: Shadows" of the fanfic **_**Butterflies**_**, I had inspiration to write this.**

**It's completely hollow! No thoughts of suicide or anything going thru MY head! xD I just thought it would make for a good, short story. Enjoy!**

She was ready to end it.

She was done.

No more feeling insignificant. Amanda had done a pretty good job of that in the past, what with flaunting her perfect skin, her perfect body, her perfect Finn. Well, not so much that last one, but Charlene knew the truth. Amanda didn't give a crud about whether or not Charlene approved of their relationship. Not that she should. No girl in their right mind would think twice about dating Finn.

In a way, Charlene didn't blame her. But in another way, she did.

For everything.

She had been trying _everything_ (and more) to get Finn to notice her. Oh, he'd noticed her…then ignored her. For some reason that she could not figure out, he liked Amanda more.

What did she have that Charlene didn't?

Sure, Amanda was nice, modest, and intelligent, but Charlene could be those things too! She had low A's in all her classes, but still maintained a 4.0. Just because she was a cheerleader didn't mean that she was automatically this skimpy-dressed, hatred-driven bee-otch* with a possy of fellow preps.

…Didn't anybody see that?

She hoped that, of all people, Finn would rise from the shallow depth that is high school and stand by her side to balance her out. He had so much to teach her…she had so much to teach him….

But no longer.

She was in the Animal Kingdom, having crossed over after demanding it be done. She promised Philby she would never ask anything of him again.

It would be a lot easier if everyone believed she had been murdered. She didn't want them to feel sorry. There were a bunch of other things wrong with the world; what was one more troubled teen, more or less? The team had Jess and Amanda now. She was really just scraping off the excess.

Sure, they might lean towards the fact that she could have committed suicide after Philby tells them about her specific request to cross over.

But not after the blood in the lion's den.

When the day dawns, the employees will come to work to find a mess. Of red. In the lion's den. Of course, no lions will even be around to witness the death, let alone have caused it. But who will know but her? The secret will die with her.

She had it in her pajama pants pocket. It was cold. She could feel it poking her through the thin material of her sweatpants as she calmly tiptoed to her destination.

It was not going to be easy. But at the same time it was.

She stepped onto the grass. It was cold beneath her feet. How she would miss that.

She suddenly had a flashback:

_It is Spring. It is night. A tiny Charlene and a large man sneak out of the back door, careful not to wake anyone else in the house. Charlene is giddy._

"_Come on, Dad!" she whisper-yells, sprinting across the backyard of crisp, green grass to the opposing fence._

"_I'm coming," her father responds, the smile clear in his voice._

"_Lift me up! Lift me up!"_

_The man leans down and takes his daughter around the waist, hoisting her up and onto his shoulders. "Listen," he says. "Can you hear them?" _

_She closes her eyes. She is very tired, but at the same time the rush she gets from being outside this late keeps her going. "I can, I can!"_

_The crickets chirp even louder, as if proud they have an audience. The chirping comes and goes, on and off, for the next few minutes. Little Charlene feels honored to be sharing this moment with her favorite boy. _

Charlene remembered the feeling of being safe with a man she loves and shivers. Not because it's cold, not because she's disgusted. The emotion is overwhelming and she just shivers.

_Her dad places her down back onto the grass. The icy, freezing grass. Little Charlene huddles close to her dad and wraps her arms around his waist as far as they can go. "I love you, dad."_

"_I love _you_, Charlene."_

Charlene closes her eyes, suddenly not sure. She _wants_ to be sure. How she wants to be sure.

"Charlene," a masculine voice says from behind.

She spins around. Out of nowhere, the knife is out of her pocket and up at her neck as if she has taken herself captive and is threatening with death.

It is dark. She can't see who it is. She guesses. "…Dad?"

"Charlene. It's Maybeck." He suddenly speaks quick but restrained like he is nervous. Why would he be nervous? It's not like he would care if she died or anything.

She swallowed. She heard the grass crunch as he stepped closer, his silhouette drawing nearer. "I heard from Philby you came. I couldn't let you come alone." He's not afraid to say it.

Charlene internally sighs. There's no meaning behind his words. "Why."

"Why what."

"Why did you come." They don't bother acting like they care. Their questions sound more like statements.

"I just told you."

"No you didn't." Her grip tightens on the weapon, causing her hand to shake. Her accusation startles Maybeck, yet he steps closer. "You came because you want me to die." Tears form and rest on her eyelids, threatening to spill over.

She promised to herself she'd go without crying.

"Don't make me," she whispered with no-nonsense intensity.

"You don't want to do this," he said. The blade now touches the skin on her throat, waiting for any movement. Eager to break skin. She scarcely breathes.

"You don't know that."

"Yes. I do." He reached out and touched the hand clutching the knife. Her eyes grew wide. She was ready to get it over with.

But Maybeck wasn't.

He thrusted his face to hers, bending her over and accidentally causing a line to be etched across her collar. A small price to pay for getting the dagger away from the beautiful being that is Charlene.

Maybeck kissed her and kissed her, and Charlene kissed back. And she cried.

The tears spilled over and she dropped the knife and she cried. The tears came across their lips and they ignored the salty taste.

Their first kiss.

"I think you're beautiful," Maybeck said between the breath they shared.

She couldn't stop crying. Not _hot_, but "beautiful."

He held her and laced his fingers through her thin, delicate hair, not wanting to let her go. He _did_ care.

He'd been watching her. She was oblivious. All she wanted was Finn, something she obviously couldn't have. She'd been wasting her time. Maybeck had wondered, day in and day out, why she wouldn't pick him. Why she wouldn't see that he had been right there. Right. There.

Now he would always be there. Always.

o-0-o-0-o

Charlene will wake up the next morning in her bed.

She'll feel a scar on her neck and not be able to explain it.

And she'll have the urge to call Maybeck.

***That's as racy as I get with bad words xD**

**Tell me if you liked it; it's definitely something new and I hope it was realistic enough.**

**I do ship Charlene and Maybeck, FOREVER AND AWAYS!**

**Review PLZ PLZ PLZ!**


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